Commercial hockey sticks generally have a fixed straight shaft and a blade having a fixed lie, loft and curvature. The maximum length of the shaft and curvature of the blade is regulated by any number of individual hockey league governing bodies. Adjusting the hockey stick to fit the individual player is limited to cutting the length of the shaft to a more appropriate length. To adjust the loft and lie angle of the blade, the player is forced to purchase a different hockey stick or blade altogether.
To overcome this disadvantage, commercial hockey sticks may be purchased as a two-piece construction—a hockey blade with a hosel and a shaft separate from the blade and having an opening at one end for receiving the hosel of the blade. The blade hosel is provided with a heat-activated glue that is preferably heated by a hot air gun or a torch. Once the glue melts, the blade hosel is placed within the shaft opening. Upon the glue drying, the blade is permanently fixed to the shaft. To remove and replace the blade, the shaft and hosel area is reheated until the glue melts and the blade hosel may be slid from the shaft opening. Although this “quick change” blade replacement system saves the hockey player money, determining the proper lie of a hockey blade to a player is still a hit or miss proposition. There exists no method or apparatus for custom fitting a hockey blade for maximum blade contact with the ice and a hockey puck thereby increasing the accuracy of a hockey player's shot and greatly improving the player's puck handling ability.
There does exist, however, a multitude of devices and systems for custom fitting golf clubs to an individual golfer. Generally, these systems include devices that externally adapt to a prefabricated golf club to measure the existing lie and loft of the golf club head. Examples of such apparatuses are found at U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,858,332; 4,875,293; 5,105,550; 5,864,960; 5,884,409; 6,363,620; 6,430,829; 6,431,990; and 6,449,860.
Other devices for customizing the lie of the golf club head relative to the shaft are specifically directed to customizing a putter to an individual golfer. Examples of such apparatuses are found at U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,441,274 and 5,782,005.
Still other devices are available to adjust or modify the relationship of the golf club head to the shaft, however, these devices are independent of the golf club and involve an inordinate amount of measuring and bending to create the custom club desired. Examples of such apparatuses are found at U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,245,391; 4,245,392; 4,468,034; 4,549,357; 4,640,017; 4,788,774; 4,885,847; 5,105,550; 5,421,098; 5,864,960; 5,884,409; 5,974,645; 6,102,811; and 6,328,660.